Dr. Jonathan Walton, social ethicist and scholar of American religions at Harvard University, will give the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture at Gustavus Adolphus College on Monday, January 16 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in Christ Chapel. The lecture is free and open to the public.
“We are incredibly honored and excited to welcome Jonathan Walton to Gustavus. Not only is he one of the foremost scholars of African-American religion, but he is also a dynamic communicator, a compassionate presence, and a genuine human being,” Gustavus Chaplain Rev. Dr. Brian Konkol said. “As both a pastor and professor at Harvard, Dr. Walton knows how to integrate faith and learning among some of our country’s most prominent leaders, and he is deeply committed to ethically engaging in the diversity of the world as both an intellectual quest and a lived experience.”
Walton, who serves as the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University and Pusey Minister in Harvard’s Memorial Church, will examine the role of faith and moral imagination in the ethical thought and public protests of Martin Luther King Jr. His lecture is titled, “It Was All A Dream…”
In addition to Walton’s role as the Plummer Professor and Pusey Minister, he teaches classes in religion and society as a member of Harvard’s divinity faculty. His research focuses on the intersections of religion, politics, and media culture. His book, Watch This! The Ethics and Aesthetics of Black Televangelism, illuminates the ways televangelists’ goals are often frustrated by their hyper-mediated methods.
The lecture is sponsored by the Gustavus Chaplains’ Office, the Diversity Center, the Peace Studies Program, the Office of the President, and Target Corporation.
Walton’s remarks will be streamed live online.
To learn more about the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture at Gustavus, visit the event website.
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